143: Chapter 143 One good news, one bad news, and one even worse news

On the other side, Lu Li was lazily leaning against the sofa, but when Shen Qingxue said that, it scared him so much that he shivered.

"Holy shit, Big Sister, have you got a death wish? How dare you say something like that in front of the camera? Are you doing an interview or making a public announcement?"

The director clearly realized she had dug up some juicy material, but her professional ethics prevented her from probing further, so she naturally changed the subject.

"Then let's get back to the competition. The theme for the next match hasn't been announced yet. Does Teacher Shen have any expectations?"

Shen Qingxue thought for a moment and said,

"No matter what the theme is, I will give it my all, and I also hope everyone will like Lu Li's works even more."

The director smiled and nodded.

"Great, then we look forward to Teacher Shen's wonderful performance in the finals. Thank you, Teacher Shen, for accepting our interview!"

"Thank you."

Shen Qingxue bowed slightly.

The cameraman turned off the machine, and the lighting guy started packing up the equipment.

The director stood up and shook hands with Shen Qingxue.

"Teacher Shen, we will edit the interview and release it on the official account of the competition, expected the night after tomorrow."

"Alright, thank you for your hard work."

Shen Qingxue saw them to the door.

Lu Li followed behind her and nodded at the director.

"Take care on your way."

After the three of them left, the moment the door closed, Lu Li let out a long breath.

"Good grief, the amount of information exposed in your interview is a bit huge, isn't it?"

Shen Qingxue tilted her head to look at him, her expression innocent to just the right degree.

"What's wrong? Everything I said is the truth."

Lu Li's mouth twitched, and he spoke irritably,

"What do you mean by 'no one can say for sure about the future'? Aren't you letting netizens let their imaginations run wild?"

Shen Qingxue walked over to the sofa and sat down, her expression still slightly innocent with a hint of playfulness.

"I am just stating a fact~"

Lu Li opened his mouth to retort, but found that he was actually speechless.

Indeed, no one could predict the future.

However... coming from Shen Qingxue's mouth, it felt completely different.

The living room was quiet for a few seconds.

Lu Li suddenly spoke, intending to probe.

"By the way, what were you thinking when you said those words just now?"

Shen Qingxue's fingers paused for a moment, and she said unhurriedly,

"Nothing."

Then she turned and walked toward the kitchen. After taking two steps, she stopped and tilted her head to look at him.

"Don't overthink it."

Lu Li was slightly stunned.

"I'm not overthinking it."

"Mhm, that's good."

Shen Qingxue withdrew her gaze and walked into the kitchen.

Lu Li leaned against the sofa, stared in the direction of the kitchen for two seconds, and then withdrew his gaze.

Not overthinking?

Who was she kidding?

Even he didn't believe it himself.

...

Over the next two days, love song and the songs sung by Shen Qingxue continued to soar in popularity, with individual topic views easily breaking three billion.

Along with little dimples, actor, and the ordinary road sung personally by Lu Li, the popularity of these songs surged again.

Although their original popularity was already very high.

It was just pushed another notch by the heat, making it even more fiery.

It could be said that this achievement would be considered dazzling on any professional singer who had debuted for many years.

Let alone two internet singers who had just terminated their contracts with their company and started from scratch.

...

On the afternoon two days later, Lu Li was leaning on the sofa drinking yogurt and playing yuanshen.

Ever since he doubted his life after drinking coconut milk last time, he had switched back to yogurt, the same brand as before, with the familiar taste.

So be it, at least it was enjoyable while drinking.

Shen Qingxue sat opposite him, holding her phone, and her expression suddenly became a bit strange.

Lu Li noticed her abnormality and asked casually,

"What's wrong?"

Shen Qingxue did not answer immediately. Her gaze lingered on the phone screen for a good while, then she raised her head and looked at Lu Li.

"I have two pieces of news to tell you."

Lu Li's action of biting the straw paused for a moment.

"What news?"

Shen Qingxue's expression turned serious, and her tone was a bit more solemn than usual.

"One good piece of news, one bad piece of news, and... an even worse piece of news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Lu Li leaned against the sofa, propped his hands behind his head, and thought for a moment.

"Let's hear the good news first."

Shen Qingxue nodded and said,

"The good news is that the semifinal results are out, and I advanced. The competition time is Saturday, and then the bad news is that the location is in Hangzhou."

Lu Li grinned.

"Isn't this expected? Only a ghost wouldn't advance."

He paused and added another sentence,

"However, the bad news isn't complete either. Hangzhou... that place is nice. I heard West Lake is very beautiful, so we can just take this opportunity to look around."

Shen Qingxue did not pick up his words and continued,

"Then the theme for the finals has also been announced."

"What theme?"

"Guofeng."

Lu Li's action of chewing on the straw paused, and he suddenly stood up, flexing his biceps a bit.

"Guofeng?"

"What a coincidence, it's my specialty. Is this a free-point question?"

Shen Qingxue looked at his full-of-confidence appearance, and her brow furrowed slightly.

"Don't be careless. Although Guofeng is a common theme, precisely because it is common, it is also very difficult to write with novelty. Moreover, the requirements for Guofeng in the next match might be even higher."

Lu Li waved his hand with a nonchalant look.

"It's fine, this little difficulty is a piece of cake."

Shen Qingxue stared at him for two seconds, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back in the end.

After getting along for this period of time, she had already gotten used to Lu Li's style.

"Alright, then the Guofeng song is left to you."

Shen Qingxue paused, and her expression turned solemn again.

"Next, let's talk about that even worse piece of news."

Lu Li put down the yogurt and straightened his posture.

"Go ahead, I'm ready."

Shen Qingxue took a deep breath and then turned the phone screen toward him.

"Your black material, and my black material, were posted online by someone at the same time."

Lu Li's brows frowned, and he reached out to take the phone, looking down at it.

On the screen was a Douyin video. The content of the video was a long article accompanied by a few screenshots of chat records.

Lu Li quickly scanned through it, and his mouth twitched.

Him cheating again?

It was one thing when Zhou Yichen used this matter to smear him last time, but after Director Zhou settled it, why was someone still using this matter to smear him this time?

Once was fine, but every single time was going too far.

"The chat records inside are all fake, but I guess it must have been done by my so-called ex-girlfriend. Last time she called saying she wanted to get back together, I refused, and then she said she would make things hard for me."

Shen Qingxue took the phone back, her brows tightly knitted.

"Are you sure it's her?"

"Sure, at least she has a hand in it."

Lu Li leaned against the sofa, his tone calm.

Shen Qingxue glanced at him without probing further.

She believed Lu Li.

Not because of any special reason, but because after getting along for this period of time, she knew him too well.

Lu Li, this person, looked frivolous on the surface, but was proud to the core.

He could accept failure, could accept being scolded by fans, and could even accept lying flat without any reason.

But he definitely did not fit the persona in those chat records.

"Then my matter..."

Shen Qingxue paused, her voice lowering a bit.

Lu Li raised his head to look at her.

"What black material of yours?"

Shen Qingxue was silent for a few seconds, then turned her phone to another trending search and handed it to him.

Lu Li took it and looked, and the headline strikingly read...